diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-agent-paste-bracketing.test.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-agent-paste-bracketing.test.ts
index 003ab987f7d..e30764b788e 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-agent-paste-bracketing.test.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-agent-paste-bracketing.test.ts
@@ -110,6 +110,16 @@ describe('shouldForceBracketedMultilinePasteForPane', () => {
     ).toBe(true)
   })
 
+  it('degrades to the pre-fix path instead of throwing on a malformed pane key', () => {
+    // Why: makePaneKey throws on a non-UUID leaf or a tabId containing ':'. The throw
+    // would escape before the paste helper's catch is attached, making the paste a
+    // silent no-op with no error surface.
+    expect(() => decide({ leafId: 'not-a-uuid' })).not.toThrow()
+    expect(decide({ leafId: 'not-a-uuid' })).toBe(false)
+    expect(() => decide({ tabId: 'tab:with:colons' })).not.toThrow()
+    expect(decide({ tabId: 'tab:with:colons' })).toBe(false)
+  })
+
   it('still brackets when shellForeground is latched true while an agent owns the pane', () => {
     // Why: shellForeground is republished only at OSC 133 boundaries, so a shell with
     // no 133 integration leaves it true while an agent runs. Measured live: vetoing on
diff --git a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-agent-paste-bracketing.ts b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-agent-paste-bracketing.ts
index 4a617efc4d5..13b6c69231f 100644
--- a/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-agent-paste-bracketing.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/src/components/terminal-pane/terminal-agent-paste-bracketing.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,13 @@ import type { PaneForegroundAgentEntry } from '../../store/slices/pane-foregroun
  * in transit (ConPTY, replay) — never an opt-out. Keep this narrow for that reason.
  * Bracketing a program that never negotiated is measurably worse than useless: the
  * markers arrive as literal payload bytes and ICRNL still turns the CR into a submit.
+ *
+ * Why this diverges from terminal-ctrl-enter / terminal-windows-shift-enter, which veto
+ * on shellForeground/routingRevoked and require routingTrusted: those resolvers decide
+ * where to ROUTE input bytes, so a forged identity misdelivers keystrokes. This one only
+ * decides whether to WRAP a paste, and the payload is ESC-sanitized downstream, so the
+ * worst a forged identity buys is a literal ESC[200~ printed at a program. Do not
+ * "align" this with those gates — measured live, that reinstates the submit bug.
  */
 export function shouldForceBracketedMultilinePasteForPane({
   isWindowsClient,
@@ -38,8 +45,20 @@ export function shouldForceBracketedMultilinePasteForPane({
   if (isWindowsClient) {
     return true
   }
-  const paneKey = makePaneKey(tabId, leafId)
+  let paneKey: string
+  try {
+    paneKey = makePaneKey(tabId, leafId)
+  } catch {
+    // Why: unreachable today (pane.leafId is a minted UUID), but a legacy/malformed
+    // layout must degrade to the pre-fix path, not throw out of the paste handler --
+    // the throw would escape before pasteTerminalClipboard's catch is attached and
+    // the paste would be a silent no-op with no error surface.
+    return false
+  }
   // Why: a process-table confirmed agent is the strongest evidence there is.
+  // Note this branch is dead for remote-runtime and SSH panes: isForegroundTrackingAllowed
+  // (pty-connection) returns false for them, so paneForegroundAgentByPaneKey stays empty
+  // and the status row below is the only evidence a remote pane ever has.
   if (isTuiAgent(paneForegroundAgentByPaneKey[paneKey]?.agent)) {
     return true
   }